Barcelona and Real Madrid meet tonight in the sixth Clasico of the season to fight for three crucial points that will shape the destiny of this season’s La Liga title.
With five games remaining, Real Madrid go to the Nou Camp four points clear of their great rivals knowing that a win or draw will almost certainly break Barca’s dominance and hand Jose Mourinho’s side their first title in four seasons.
Real were 10 points clear of the Catalans just over a month ago but have drawn three of the last seven games while Barca have won their last 11 league matches.
The goals of Lionel Messi have been crucial in Barca’s recent run – the Argentine has scored an incredible 18 goals in those 11 wins. Cristiano Ronaldo has also netted 41 league goals for Real making it a head-to-head shoot out between the two best players in the world for the ‘Pichichi’ prize awarded to the league’s top scorer.
Both star players have earned countless man-of-the-match awards, the tricky recent away wins for both sides at Atletico Madrid standing out for great match-winning goals from the two strikers.
Messi has 63 in all competitions to Ronaldo’s 53, but if the Portuguese wins his first La Liga title, against the reigning Spanish, European and World Club Champions, it would surely rank with the best feats in his career to date.
Real coach Jose Mourinho has only beaten Barca once in 10 attempts since he took over in the summer of 2010.
That victory came in last season’s Spanish Cup final with a Ronaldo winner in extra-time.
To add more spice, the clash comes the weekend before both sides attempt to turn around first-leg away defeats in the Champions League semi-finals in a bid to meet each other in May’s final in Munich.
In a bid to reduce the pressure on his Barca players Pep Guardiola has continued to reiterate in recent weeks that winning the league is an impossible task.
On Wednesday he was philosophical about his team’s upset to Chelsea and the battles to come.
“I don’t know what will happen on Saturday (today) and next Tuesday but I feel that we have triumphed already,” he said cryptically, perhaps referring to Barca’s success in recent years.